Begin
by bakane
Summary: One day, Ruby Rose knew that her fairy tales would come true. Even if her dreams came in the form of an ill-tempered sister, a mysterious heiress, and a lost cat, she would still gladly accept the chances. It would be a while until they could call themselves true heroes, though, in the end, that was the only destiny they deserved. [Superpower AU]
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

"I wish that I could cry  
Fall upon my knees  
Find a way to lie  
About a home I'll never see

It may sound absurd but don't be naive  
Even heroes have the right to bleed  
I may be disturbed but won't you concede  
Even heroes have the right to dream  
And it's not easy to be me."

-Superman by Five for Fighting

* * *

A cool breeze lingered into the night; there was a gush of wind, followed by the rustling music of fall leaves swatting against the side of the house. Amidst the gentle lullaby of autumn, soft snores traveled from the main bedroom, through the creaky halls and along the empty rooms.

The lights went out early at the Rose-Long residence. Mr. Taiyang Xiao Long lied peacefully in bed, having fallen asleep with a book in his hands. A book, which his wife promised would be worth the read, until he figured out for himself that she could not be more wrong. It was a relatively tranquil evening. After all, it had been weeks since he slept this soundlessly without interruptions.

Little did he know, he would soon be unceremoniously woken up by a gleeful roar of laughter and the loud chatter of his two disruptive children.

One floor down from Taiyang's bedroom, the living room rumbled on with life.

"I found you! I found you!" A young girl with short reddish hair giggled through her teeth.

This first voice belonged to Ruby Rose, the youngest daughter of the household. Having celebrated her seventh birthday last week, Ruby believed that she was now old enough to do whatever she pleased. Naturally, on the night her mother was out of town, she snuck out of bed as soon as her father went to sleep, unmistakably waking up her older sister in the process.

The eldest daughter, Yang Xiao Long, tripped onto the floor as Ruby relentlessly tugged on one of her longer pigtails. She was only two years older, but she still towered over her sibling by a foot. Rubbing her blonde hair, which she inherited from her father, Yang jumped back onto her feet, looking positively devastated.

"What- Not again!" Yang half-shouted, meeting her sister's innocently unblinking eyes. "How do you keep finding me so quickly? I told you to count to one hundred."

"I did," the younger sibling nodded dutifully, "But I saw you hiding."

"Ruby!" The blonde gasped, forgetting to keep quiet. "You're not supposed to see me hide. That ruins the whole point of hide-and-seek. You know, hide? _And then_ seek?"

Apparently not understanding, Ruby simply frowned in response. "Well, I didn't mean I saw you hiding right _now_."

"Well, when exactly did you see me crawl up the fire place then?" Yang demanded, slightly crossed as she stared down at her sister. "I'm not going to play with you anymore if you won't stop cheating."

"I wasn't cheating!" Ruby argued back, sounding personally insulted by the accusation. "I was-"

Bang!

A sudden noise echoed down from the first floor ceiling. Then, a short yelp of pain, and then a long deep moan. Yang's next words were soon drowned by a dozen angry thumps. The two figures froze on the spot. Both girls, with their eyes wide opened, stared guiltily up at the railings.

There was a small click and the room became flooded with light. There were three separate cries of pain, as all members of the family took a moment to adjust to the sudden fluctuation in brightness. A man, with messy blonde hair and slightly pink eyes, stood grumpily by the light switch.

"Ruby...? Yang?" He muttered while squinting at the living room clock. "It's already half past eleven. What are you girls doing down here?"

"Nothing!" Yang quickly lied, hiding herself behind Ruby's shorter form. "We were doing nothing!"

"We were playing hide and seek, but Yang kept saying that I cheated," whined Ruby, giving up the truth in the blink of an eye.

"You did cheat," hissed Yang from behind.

"No, I didn't!"

"Ruby, don't go picking fights with your sister," Taiyang groaned, squeezing the brim of his nose with thinning patience. "And Yang-"

He paused for a moment, inching closer to gather a better look at his oldest daughter. "Yang, why are you covered in soot?"

"Um…"

"She crawled up the fire place again," piped Ruby, swooping in quickly to expose her sister's mistake.

"She did _what_?" Wearing an expression of annoyed concern, Taiyang also began to raise his voice. "Yang, how many times do I have to tell you? You're not supposed to climb up the chimney! It's dangerous!"

"Ugh, Ruby! You are such a tattletale," Yang muttered underneath her breath.

"Well, you were-"

"That's enough," Taiyang stopped them, before another pointless argument could recommence. "It is _way_ past both of your bedtimes. I want you girls back in your rooms before I start counting to ten."

"Okay…" Ruby pouted, seeming thoroughly discouraged. She huffed and puffed, shoving her small hands into her pajama pockets as she marched across the living room rug, towards the staircase. She glanced up, just before she took another step towards her room. "Dad? When's Mom coming home?"

"She'll be back by tomorrow morning, honey," Taiyang sighed, remembering to peck his daughter on the cheek as she passed by. "Go to your room and get some rest."

As soon as Ruby disappeared up the stairs, Taiyang's stare hardened. He couldn't stay too mad, of course, not with his daughter wearing that same, pitiful countenance of regret.

"Yang…" Taiyang began.

"Ruby started it," the blonde made sure to point out, before slamming her mouth shut once more.

"That doesn't matter," he rebuked her as gently as he could. "Tomorrow's a school day and I don't want another phone call from your teacher, telling me that you slept through all of fourth grade."

There was a short, indistinct grumble. Yang, though appearing immensely cheated of something, eventually nodded in defeat.

"Good." He hugged her along the shoulders. "Now, I want you to go clean yourself off before heading straight back to bed. Okay, sweetie? No more games tonight."

"Yeah, okay," the blonde mumbled, and then soon followed the footsteps of her sister.

Taiyang watched as she went, her shadow vanishing around the first corner. After a few minutes, he thankfully heard the sound of running water trickling from the upstairs bathroom. Satisfied, he turned his head, ready to resume back to his bed when his throat let out another prolonged groan. Several dark footprints of ash trailed from the fireplace to the empty hall, running across the wooden floor, directly through the living room carpet.

Though feeling sluggish, he resigned himself to find a mop. Summer would murder him tomorrow if he didn't clean this up.

* * *

"…Yang?"

The blonde lifted her head, seeing her sister through the bathroom mirror, her head poking out from behind the door.

"What?" Yang replied in a muffled voice, brushing away at her teeth. Even after suffering through her father's lecture, hiding in the chimney still remained as a clever plan in her mind; it didn't matter that she swallowed an unhealthy amount of dust in the process.

"Can you read me a story?" asked a rather timid voice.

Yang rolled her eyes, promptly spitting out some watery toothpaste into the sink.

"You're not four anymore, Ruby," she told her sister through a series of rinses. "Read your own stupid stories."

"But I like them better when you tell them," insisted Ruby.

The blonde frowned, silently gargling the water in her mouth as she watched her sister's pleading expression. Ruby clung onto the door knob, swinging back and forth in agitating unease. After all these years, Ruby insisted on acting like a helpless baby. It was cute, but at times it did get a little annoying. Nevertheless, Yang – deciding to make truce with this evening – spat out the rest of the soapy liquid and turned to face her waiting sister.

"Fine," she agreed shortly, wiping the water off with her sleeve. "But just one, and then you're going right back to sleep! I think you caused me enough trouble for one day."

"Okay!" Ruby smiled brightly before dashing out into the hall. Reluctantly, Yang set down her toothbrush, turned off the lights, and followed her sister into their shared bedroom. Within seconds Ruby had already flung herself into her own bed, flattening out the pillow and sheets into a perfect ready-for-sleep position.

"All right, this is the story of the Little Red-Cap," Yang started, tucking in a few missed corners as she picked out a book. "Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked at her, but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have given to the child. Once she gave her a little cap of red velvet, which suited her so well that she would never wear anything else; so she was always called, Little Red-Cap."

"Wait. I already heard this one," Ruby soon interrupted.

"No, you haven't." Yang whipped up her most wicked, evil smile. "This one's the scary one, with the hunter and the big bad wolf that bites off the granny's head."

"...I want a different story." Ruby requested, remaining undeterred despite her sister's poor attempt at a scare.

"Well…" Yang sighed, dropping the act in mild disappointment. "What do you want me to read you then?"

"How about a story about dragons?" Ruby pondered out loud. "And knights, and princesses, and witches!"

"…Okay?" Yang's eye twitched at the growing list. After a moment of hard thinking, she tried again from the beginning - this time, from scratch. "Once upon a time, there was a little princess, and she was loved by everyone who looked at her, except for her older sister who wanted nothing more than for her little sister to just go to sleep already."

Yang paused for a moment, hoping that her sibling would have gotten the message. She hadn't. Ruby still stared at her, patiently waiting for her to continue the story.

"One day, the princess went for a short walk down the woods. Next to a large river, she ran into a big fat dragon that liked to breathe fire and pick its teeth with human bones. Oh no, the princess cried, somebody save me!" Yang improvised, speaking in a high-pitched squeaky voice. "Just then, a brave knight in shining armor came out of nowhere with his horse and pulled out his massive sword and-"

"No, no, no!" Ruby cut in, acting very quick and urgent. "You're telling it wrong!"

"How could I be telling it wrong?" Yang countered, eyeing her sister in disbelief. "I'm making it up as I go. It's my story!"

"But I didn't want the princess fighting the dragon," said Ruby, as if this was an obvious demand. "I wanted them to be friends."

"Fine, fine," grunted Yang. "Then it wasn't a dragon, it was the witch who can turn herself into scary looking monsters. The knight took the sword and sliced off the witch's- Why are you shaking your head?"

"Why would the knight hurt the witch?" Ruby argued. "She didn't do anything wrong."

"She's a witch!" Yang reasoned. "She's supposed to be evil."

"Yeah, but what did she do that made her so evil?"

"I don't know!" Yang, though only nine years-old at the time, nearly sprouted a very bad word. "Oh, come on, Ruby. You want the princess and the knight and the dragon _and_ the witch to all be friends? Who's going to be the mean villain then?"

"Um…" Ruby pulled the covers closer to her face. "I guess there doesn't have to be one."

"It's not a very good story then."

"It sounds good to me."

"Fine then," relented Yang. Crossing her legs, she pat down her sister's arm, narrating her final revision in the fastest, quickest pace yet.

"Once upon a time, the princess went down to the riverside and befriended the big old dragon," the blonde rushed. "The dragon wanted to eat her but the princess really wanted them to be friends, so they did. They became friends. A knight came out from the woods and they all had a nice little tea party together. The princess thanked the knight for _almost_ saving her life from an _almost_ evil fire breathing dragon and the two of them got married. Later, the lonely dragon found an old evil witch and the two become friends too. The end."

"There." Yang huffed, slightly out of breath. She glanced over at Ruby, lifting a single brow in question. "You happy?"

Ruby opened her mouth, and then closed it again rather slowly. Perhaps she was a year wiser, since she knew better than to point out - for the third time - the obvious flaws in her sister's succinct, poorly constructed story. If Yang had been in a better mood, would her story have been more fun?

"…Sis, I'm sorry for tattle telling," Ruby, on second thoughts, apologized, shyly hiding away half of her face into the blanket as she did so.

It was quite an adorable scene, with the added feature of her pink dumpling cheeks and her overly guilt-ridden expression. Yang stopped frowning almost immediately, the feeling of exasperation and annoyance evaporating so quickly, she forgot why they had been fighting in the first place. An obviously silly reason, no doubt about that.

"...Nah, it's okay. I guess I shouldn't have been hiding there anyway." Feeling embarrassed and petty, Yang moved closer to hug her sister, but decided to ruffle up the top bits of Ruby's hair teasingly instead. "I'm sorry for calling you a cheater too."

"I didn't cheat," repeated Ruby, though this time it was much meeker.

"Yeah, okay. You're just really good at hide-and-seek." Yang grinned, deciding to let it slide once again.

"Do you want to know how I did it?" Ruby asked, her silver eyes suddenly lit with excitement.

"What do you mean?"

Ruby's eyes darted from left to right, carefully observing the room and the bedroom door before finally leaning forward and revealing her little secret.

"I saw it in my dream," she whispered, tickling the inner sides of her sister's ear.

"Huh?" Stifling a giggle, Yang pushed Ruby back onto her pillow. "You saw me hiding in a dream?"

"Uh huh." Ruby nodded rapidly, appearing far too energized for bed. "I saw you and me. We were playing hide-and-seek, just like before! And I saw you go up the fire place when I was counting down to a hundred."

"...And this all happened in your dream?"

"Yup!" Visibly triumphant, Ruby continued to smile very broadly. She waited for her sister's subsequent reaction, seeming ready to pounce and say something along the lines of "Hah! I told you so!"

"Oh… Okay then." Yang bobbed her head eventually, though it sounded like an awfully big coincidence. If it were true though… Even she had to admit, it _was_ pretty cool. "You win, Ruby."

"Hah! I told you so!"

Yang chuckled, poking her sister right in the middle of her forehead to keep her from saying more. "Hey, who knows? Maybe I'll have a dream that tells me the future too, and then we can have a rematch tomorrow. Then we'll see who the real winner is."

"Maybe." Ruby shrugged, still looking mighty smug. Yang smirked in return, turning off their bedside lamp.

"Good night, Rubes."

"Good night, sis."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Hello, readers. Thank you for visiting this story.

This is just the prologue for a long series that I've been planning for a while now. The reason it isn't included in "The Next Chapter" is because this will consist of much more chapters than my usual story arcs, which are almost always six to eight parts.

If you haven't caught the end of the synopsis, yes, this will be a superpower AU. I hope you all enjoy it!

Please, let me know what you think in the comments below!

And stay tuned for more.


	2. The Move

_Not once in the Rose-Long residence did a day go by without a sequence of raised voices._

 _"Ruby!_ _I'm going to miss my flight!"_ _Taiyang Xiao Long shouted from across the hall, fixing his hair in the mirror as he put on a tie. "_ _Are you almost done?"_

 _"Almost!" Ruby answered loudly from her room. The girl huffed, throwing her arms up in the air, having given up the search within her bedroom wardrobe. "Dad! Have you seen my red hoodie?"_

 _"You mean the one you're wearing this morning?" He yelled back._

 _"No!" She retorted, sighing in slight exasperation. "The other one!"_

 _"Did you check your closet?" Her father suggested._

 _"Um, yeah!" She went for another look, just in case. "It's not here!"_

 _"Did you try the laundry basket?"_

 _"It's not there! I checked!"_

 _"Then try looking underneath your bed!"_

 _"Why would my hoodie be underneath my-" Ruby paused, stopping short of her next words, as she found a familiar red sleeve sticking out from below her bedpost._

 _"...How'd this get here?" She muttered, crouching down on her knees as she picked it up from the floor. "Huh."_

 _There were a few loud thumps, and Taiyang - wearing his usual semi-formal suit and untidy blonde hair - appeared by the doorway._

 _"Did you find it?" He asked, offering his services to help her forage._

 _"Yeah, yeah, I found it." Ruby waved him off, sticking the hoodie into her bag, and jamming it into her opened suitcase. "No worries."_

 _"How can you even find anything in this mess?" Taiyang cast a quick glance over the room, grimacing at its messy nature by default. As if it was a force of habit, he began picking up the clothes from the floor, throwing them back into Ruby's emptied wardrobe. "Are you sure you packed everything?"_

 _"Yup."_

 _"Your laptop?"_

 _"Uh... Yeah. It's...somewhere around here." Ruby hesitated, unsure where to start. Her father, rolling his eyes, pointed at something from across the room. Ruby followed his finger and quickly located her computer, which still lay on top of her scattered desk, hiding under sheets of blank paper. "Got it!" she said triumphantly, snatching her notebook and chucking it in with her other belongings._

 _"Did you pack your charger?"_

 _"Um... Sure?" This time, as Taiyang tipped her with another hint, she found that the damned wires have been hiding in the outlet behind the opened door. Ruby grabbed them by one end, pulled, and tossed the whole tangled mess into her bag. "_ _Done."_

 _"You've got your toothbrush, your shampoo, your books, your headphones, and your phone?" Taiyang listed, folding down a finger with each count._

 _"Yes, yes, yes, yes..." She put in a moment of thought. Shortly after, Ruby dug into the bottom of her closet floor, last - but not least - fishing out her forgotten cell phone. "And yes."_

 _"Your emergency list of contact information?"_

 _"Dad..." Ruby began to complain. "I don't need that."_

 _"Do you have it?" Taiyang pressed nonetheless, crossing his arms as he stared sternly down at his daughter._

 _"Yes, uh, I have it!" She replied, laughing nervously on her toes. "It's somewhere in my bag!"_

 _"Then what did I find hiding behind your bookcase just now?" Taiyang raised his eyebrows, flashing out a crinkled piece of paper in his hand. There was an audible groan as Ruby recognized the numbers on the list. "Ah ha! I don't think so, kiddo."_

 _"How did you even find that?" Ruby moaned, folding the paper back into her front pocket. "Geez, you are one paranoid old man."_

 _She attempted to close her suitcase, taking a long period of effort to make sure that nothing spilled out. She sat on top of it a couple times, her father watching in mild amusement as Ruby managed to finally hear the lock snap shut._

 _"Let's go!" Ruby said quickly, grabbing her luggage by the handle and dragging it behind her. There were a few loud clunks, as the trunk trailed behind her on the stairs. Taiyang quickly lent a hand, making sure that his youngest daughter wouldn't be trampled by the weight of her own possessions._

 _"Wait, wait, wait!" Taiyang stopped her, right before she could reach the front porch. Fishing out a medium-sized camera from his coat pocket, he broke into a silly smile. "I wanted to take a picture before you left."_

 _"Dad, I'm not going off to college!" Ruby reminded him. "I'm just going to high school."_

 _"I don't care, I want a picture to remember this by!"_

 _"Ugh, fine." Ruby groaned, reluctantly hugging her dad as he readjusted the camera lens. "Hurry up and take it already. Three, two, one... And... Okay, done!"_

 _"Hmm. That's no good," he commented, peering deeply into the captured photo. "It just looks like you're going on a big trip. Maybe you can pose differently or something. It's a shame your school doesn't have a proper uniform..."_

 _"Da-a-d! We're both supposed to be going somewhere, remember?" argued Ruby, grabbing their luggage and thrusting them out the front door. "Now, come on! Let's go, go, go!"_

* * *

Ruby Rose woke up with a small snort, hearing the piercing cry of her alarm.

She shot her arm forward, nearly smashing the top of her clock as she turned off the sound.

It had been a peaceful night of rest, and - like most days - there had been a rather humorous dream by the end of it. Rubbing her eyes, Ruby slid out of her covers, and lazily got out of bed. The warm carpet nuzzled at her toes, and Ruby was perfectly content with the feeling to linger, when suddenly she felt something sharp stab at the bottom of her right foot.

"Ouch!" Ruby hissed, jumping back onto her bed as she looked down at what she had just stepped on. It had been a metal paper clip. Weird, Ruby thought, wondering why such an object was at the foot of her bed.

Then, she gazed around her room and instantly found her answer.

It was as if a hurricane had swooped in during the night and made sure that everything in her room had been thoroughly misplaced. Hardly a single inch of her bedroom floor had been excused from the disorderly mess.

Oh! That's right, Ruby noted. She had fallen asleep last night in the middle of a rigorous packing session. Now, it was approximately eight o'clock on a Sunday morning, and she still had about half an hour to spare before anything would get too busy. If it had been any other day, she would have dropped right back onto her bed, pressing the snooze button in a daze. But then again, this wasn't going to be any standard day. It was the end of summer vacation, and she accepted this fact with the happiest and brightest expression of all.

She tiptoed along the floor, making sure not to stomp on anything pointy or precious, deciding to start the morning with a pleasant surprise for her father. Ruby scrunched up her eyebrows in thought, concentrating hard on what she had just dreamed.

First things first, she swerved back to her bed, bending over and pulling out her treasured red hoodie. After giving it a dozen well-meaning slaps, the dust-free sweatshirt went straight into the top of her bulging trunk.

Next on the list was her laptop...which coincidentally stood on top of her desk.

Check! Ruby said happily to herself, as she threw the object from across the room. It was a miracle that the thing hadn't broken yet.

Her laptop charger, also quickly discovered and retrieved, was at the corner outlet of her room. Check!

Her hygiene products, her new books, her headphones and other audio equipment, were all safely sitting, somewhere inside her suitcase. Grinning to herself, Ruby made her last trip to the closet, digging through a couple of poorly folded jeans, and finding her long lost mobile device, having been left there overnight.

She found the emergency list of contact information, still stuck behind the corner of her wooden bookcase. Predicting that her father would find it somehow, she picked it out and simply stuffed it into her back pocket.

There we go! Ruby rejoiced. She would have forgotten nothing this time around, a remarkable feat indeed; and it had all come to her in a dream.

Ruby had to admit, she was sure that she had been a small, ordinary girl when she was younger, although she had a few list of anomalies that nobody else seemed to share. Of course, ever since her seventh birthday, her life has never truly been the same. A very lengthy topic to talk about, Ruby agreed, something she couldn't get into at this precise moment.

A lot had changed over the years. First of all, Ruby wasn't a child anymore. At least, in appearance, she insisted that she wasn't. On this point, her father liked to disagree with her on numerous occasions. Nonetheless, it grew harder for him to deny that his little girl was growing up.

She was fifteen years old now, and she was facing a whole other prospect in life. It was the stage that everybody must try and pass and endure: the stage of high school. Strangely enough, Ruby felt neither troubled nor depressed over the idea.

Ninth grade. She was entering the ninth grade, and Ruby could not withhold her excitement. In fact, it invigorated her, although she still felt a bit nervous at times. It was the good kind of tension though, the ones that gave people their gratifying jitters. She had spent the entire summer keeping herself distracted until the month of November. Time went by excruciatingly slow. Her older sister wasn't much of a help either, but Ruby would get to that part later.

Now, some may argue that this event shouldn't deserve such a fanfare applause, yet Ruby Rose would like to politely disagree. Perhaps, in her senior year, she would have grown numb to this idea and would simply dread waking up the next morning. However, for now, the change came as a thrilling news for her. After all, becoming a high school freshman was a sure sign that she was making her way into adulthood (even if she had thrown a tantrum to get into the school that she wanted). Her father nearly cried his heart out, right after resigning that he had no other choice but to approve of her academic decision. Ruby had to constantly remind her father that it was really no big deal: "For god's sake, Dad! I'm only an hour away by car!"

Yes, today was the day she had been waiting for. And she would not waste a single second of it.

After finishing her tasks earlier than usual, Ruby jogged downstairs, flying straight into the kitchen. She poured a bowl of milk for herself, throwing in a fistful of cereal in after. Ruby crunched away, eating her breakfast in deserved peace as loud thumps began to echo from the upstairs bedroom.

"Ruby, are you almost done?" She heard her father shout. There was a minute of panic, as she innocently chose not to reply. Soon, there were several noisy footsteps moving throughout the halls. "Ruby, where are you?"

"I'm downstairs!" Ruby grinned as she eventually answered. She waited a while, stifling a laugh as she could practically see the confusion in her father's face, followed by the subsequent silence. Thankfully, she did not have to wait long to witness it for herself.

"What are you doing in here?" Taiyang's head soon popped through the kitchen threshold. "We're going to be late!"

"It's fine, we've got time," she replied, nonchalantly munching on her breakfast as she watched her father frown with little patience.

"Come on, Ruby," he urged her, seemingly distracted as he tried smoothing down the front of his wrinkled dress shirt. "Go upstairs and make sure you've got everything ready. I know you always take about an hour trying to find your things."

"Well, this time, I got everything ready beforehand," said Ruby, pouring herself a glass of orange juice. "Hey, do you want some pop tarts for the road?"

"No, I don't want some- Are you sure you're all packed?" Taiyang asked hurriedly.

"Yup."

"If I were to go upstairs, and looked inside your room," he tested her, raising a brow in suspicion, "I would find...?"

"A really messy room, but otherwise a fully packed suitcase," Ruby finished for him, not forgetting to smile cheekily. "My laptop, my laptop charger, the emergency contact information, and everything else that'll need!"

"...Okay, that's great, honey." He finally chose to relent. "Let me just go put on a tie and then we can get going."

Taiyang marched right back upstairs. Ruby hummed, knowing very well that her father would make the effort and check her room anyway. Fortunately, she was five steps ahead of him, happily aware of the fact that he would not find anything to nag about.

A couple minutes later, Taiyang reappeared into the living room, both his and his daughter's baggage in hand. He was panting in effort for his generosity.

"Thanks, Dad!" Ruby said, as she took her own luggage with great appreciation. "Now, let's go!"

"Hold on." Her father dug into his coat. "I wanted to take a picture before you left."

"Dad," she sighed. "It's not like I'm going off to college..."

"I don't care. I want a picture to remember this by!"

"Oh, come on! I thought you were going to miss your flight!" Ruby returned, picking up her trunk and walking straight towards their parked car. She loved these opportunities in which she could act as the parent and not the child. "Get your priorities straight, mister!"

"Who cares about the plane?" Taiyang whined, stumbling after Ruby with his own luggage in hand. "I can always catch the next one!"

* * *

No sooner had Taiyang dropped his daughter off on his way to the airport than Ruby regretted his offer to stay and help her move her trunk.

It took several great heaves and strained muscles before Ruby could drag her belongings up the heavy stone stairwell. In the end, she finally reached the front porch of her uncle's small estate. Wiping off a tiny bead of sweat, she rang the doorbell and waited with tingling anticipation.

The door opened in a sluggish motion, much like the person who had come to the entrance.

A young teenage woman emerged from behind, her blonde hair in a shameful jumble and her eyes nearly squinting, evidently suffering from the rays of the morning sunlight. Yang Xiao Long, still in her tight pajamas, and still wearing that look of yesterday's sleep on her visage, glimpsed down at her visitor. It took a moment, as half-opened lilac eyes blinked, taking a few seconds for the brain to register what it was seeing.

Once she did understand, the blonde made a comical "gah!" sound. Consequently, Ruby was forced to take a step back, watching with perplexed humor as her sister nearly tripped over her own foot in utter panic.

"Ruby!" The blonde's jaw dropped open as she flung the door wide open. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, did I wake you up?" questioned Ruby, inviting herself into the house. "I mean, of course I woke you up. It's only nine o'clock and you always sleep until noon on the weekends. But still, Dad had to catch an early flight and I thought it'd be a good idea for me to leave all my stuff here before making a trip to the store. I still need to get all my school supplies and stuff, I can't believe I pushed it off for this long... Anyhow, I know that there's a Staples nearby, but do you know if it's walking distance? Because I really don't want to walk for an hour with too many things in my hands and-"

"No, no. Ruby," Yang cut her off, still appearing quite dumbstruck. "I mean, what are you doing _here_? I didn't know you were coming over."

"Um…" She frowned, not fully understanding the inquiry. "I'm here because… I'm staying here with you?"

"You're what?" The blonde seemed genuinely surprised. "What- When? When did you tell me this? You never mentioned this before."

"Oh." Ruby paused, leaving her heavy luggage by the door. "I'm guessing you didn't get the memo."

"Memo?" Her sister repeated. "What memo?"

"Dad said he talked with you over the phone yesterday! Even though it was a bit of a last minute plan," Ruby quickly added, rushing over Yang's flummoxed lines, which were along the lines of: What are you talking about? Dad never called me last night! "He said that since he's going to be away for business, and Uncle Qrow's going to be out of town for the next couple of months, he thought I could stay here with you for a couple of weeks."

"So he thought I needed a babysitter?" Yang asked, sounding slightly insulted. It was a peculiar issue, but her older sister grew defensive at this particular remark.

"Actually, sis." Ruby coughed. "I think he was kind of hoping it'd be the other way around."

"...Oh." The blonde snapped her mouth shut, realizing the implication and how silly she was being. "Oh... Right."

There was an interval of cricket-chirping silence. Ruby still stood in the empty corridor, watching her sister and waiting for the blonde to say something that could be construed as a warm, inviting welcome.

"So, you're staying?" Yang tried to confirm with her again, this time acting much less surprised and sounding a little more appalled.

"Yeah, I'm staying...?" Ruby smiled nervously, trying not to be too bothered. "You know, sis. You don't look too happy to see me?"

"What- No! No, no, no!" Yang choked, her eyes widening in absolute horror. Obviously, whatever it had been that was troubling her, the blonde had not meant for her behavior to come off as a sign of frustration or a complete lack of familial affection. As a result, her sister immediately broke character, reverting back to her fun old, fussy self. "Of course I'm happy to see my little baby sister! Come here, you!"

Ruby did not appreciate the bone crunching hug though, which came automatically with the change in demeanor.

"Ugh!" She squeaked, dying from her sister's crushing embrace. "Losing- Air- Must- Breathe!"

"Come on, Rubes," said Yang, once she ceased the near murder attempt. Taking her sister's luggage, she rolled it across the wooden floorboard, leading the girl inside the house. "You can stay in the spare bedroom like always."

"Right!" Ruby bounded after her, following her through a hallway beneath the stairs, arriving at the first door to their left.

"Make yourself comfortable." The blonde said this in an odd voice, as if she were talking through a mid-yawn. "I'm going to go wash up."

Ruby nodded, as she entered her room for the time being. It was a small, guest bedroom, and she had always stayed here during her prior visits. Yang's bedroom was the one on the second floor, and Uncle Qrow's - though he hardly used it - was also upstairs as well.

About two years ago, her sister Yang had gained independence from their house along Patch Avenue. Considering the blonde's age back then, Ruby assumed that their father would have been frighteningly against the decision. Yet when Yang announced that she wanted to attend Vale High, and that she could stay at Uncle Qrow's house due to its proximity to the new school, Taiyang had surprisingly allowed for his eldest daughter to go off on her own adventure.

To be more precise, this house belonged to Yang's birth mom, a figure Ruby hardly knew anything about (simply that the woman was almost always missing from their lives). Perhaps for this exact reason, her house was currently being occupied by their uncle. And since Uncle Qrow absolutely adored his two nieces (even though he tried hard not to admit it), he had no problem with Yang crashing over during school days.

Obviously, Ruby disliked this idea. She hated to live separately from her sister, with whom she was very close, like any normal siblings would be. There were times when they fought over petty disputes, but these were normally resolved rather quickly. Nevertheless, it was better than the idea of Yang being locked up in the school dormitories. At least with this living arrangement, Ruby could visit her whenever she wanted, and they could still meet during weekends and holidays. Although the Qrow Branwen household had a few strange rules, such as always making sure to call in advance before visiting.

Ruby supposed she had broken that rule, although she blamed it on her father for having forgotten to call. Or perhaps he had not told Yang on purpose, since she seemed to enjoy having time by herself these days - a period of unavoidable teenage angst, Ruby had to guess. When they were younger, they were nearly inseparable. Despite this, at some point in time, Ruby knew that they couldn't act like conjoined twins for long.

But still, they visited each other frequently, and they met frequently, and they chatted frequently. And if Ruby didn't count the weird instances, like the brief conversation they had several seconds ago, her sister was still the greatest older sibling anyone could ever have.

After Ruby spent the next thirty minutes, sorting through her bloated suitcase, and finding space for herself in the empty bookcase and closet, she hopped out of her designated room. She had been over at this house before, and she felt comfortable enough to run, without the fear of tripping or breaking furniture.

She swerved around the corner, sliding into the living room as she found Yang leaning over the kitchen counter.

"Hey, I was going to order pizza for brunch," Yang called out to her, muffling the speaker of her phone with one hand. "You want pepperoni, right?"

"Yes, please!"

The blonde nodded in consent, and then after a little more chatter with the delivery service, she hung up the wall phone.

"Food's on its way," she announced, strolling through the room, and throwing herself onto the center couch. Yang sank into the cushions, emitting a prolonged moan of exhaustion. Evidently, her sister had slept late last night, surfing the web or chatting with her friends. Ruby thought little of it as she joined her sister on the comfortable sofa.

"So?" She asked casually.

"So...?" Yang repeated in return.

"Tell me about Vale High!" Ruby piped, controlling herself from jumping up and down.

"Haven't you heard enough?" The blonde responded, recalling many moments in the past, consisting of the same topic of interest. "I've already told you a bunch of stories from my school. It's nothing special."

"Yeah, I know. But I'll be going there now," explained Ruby, "So you have to tell me all the details you left out."

"Um..."

"Like, how are the teachers there? Is there any teacher I should watch out for? Are they nice? Do they give out a lot of homework? Is it hard to get an A?" Ruby bombarded her, behaving relentlessly with her questions. "Are the students there pretty nice and friendly, or are they really mean girls, like the ones from the movies we used to watch together?"

"Um, no. Or... I don't know," said Yang, with great uncertainty. "But really, Ruby. It's not going to be anything you've never experienced before. Besides, we'll be in different grades. I don't know any of your classmates or teachers."

"Yeah, I know that." Ruby nodded glumly. "I'm still excited and everything, since it's a new school for me. And I guess that makes me kind of worried too."

"That's okay." Yang told her, patting her gently on the shoulder. "Everyone gets nervous when it's their first day at a new place. All you need to do is get out of your comfort zone a little. Try talking to some of the people in your class and you'll learn to make new friends."

"Right." She scoffed at her sister's words. "You say that like it's _so_ easy."

"It _is_ easy," the blonde claimed, tugging Ruby's hood over head with a playful laugh. "See what you and I are doing right now? We're talking. If you can't even pull this off, you're going to have a hard time passing any of your classes."

"Ugh, that's not what I meant and you know it!" Ruby whined, unkindly punching her sister with a couch cushion. "Give me some real advice. Something that I can actually use."

"Trust me, Ruby." Yang chuckled. "You'll be just fine."


	3. The Ice Breaker

The night went by in a painfully slow sequence. Ruby spent most of her late hours trying to fall asleep, reading under a dim lamp as all the lights in the neighborhood turned off. For a short moment, she considered sneaking upstairs to check if her sister would be asleep, but Ruby missed her window of opportunity once the clock ticked past two a.m. By then, even she knew better than to disturb Yang's session of beauty sleep.

Instead, she shut her eyes and counted down a herd of invisible, imaginary sheep. Once she did, eventually, fall into peaceful slumber, it was short, and absent of a single interesting dream.

She groaned once the morning alarm rang across the room, echoing loudly into the halls. Around seven fifteen, Ruby heard movement along the creaky hardwood floor.

"Hey, Rubes? Are you up?" Yang, equally drowsy, popped her head through the doorway. Seeing as Ruby was still huddling underneath her cozy sheets, the blonde rolled up the sides of her sleeves, and then dutifully flipped her younger sibling out of her bed.

"Wha- Hey!" Ruby whined, hugging herself as she tried to salvage some warmth.

"Breakfast," Yang announced briefly, and then exited with a prolonged yawn. Grumbling, Ruby crawled across the floor to the closet. Putting on a thick jacket over her pajamas, she followed her sister out into the kitchen.

They breezed through their morning meal, gobbling up two slices of white bread, half an apple, and a glass of heated milk (specifically for Ruby, who argued that she was still capable of more growth). Yang sipped on her juice box in mocking silence.

Afterwards, the two dressed speedily, though Yang barged in a couple times, consulting her little sister about her current state of fashion. Ruby, who did not care in the slightest, simply threw on her favorite red sweatshirt and raced out the front entrance, leaving Yang to deal with her own silly problems of which tube top to wear.

"Woah, it's pretty chilly today," Yang stated as she finally emerged, dressed in a mildly revealing outfit of her choice. Ruby rolled her eyes at the result, wondering if the new school she was going to carried no rules against dressing too thinly for the weather.

"Here, hold this for a sec!" The blonde shouted, stopping to tie her shoes. She threw something small and metal into the air; Ruby caught it with both hands, and noticed that they were her sister's car keys. A small bumblebee-shaped accessory dangled at the end of it.

Grinning, Ruby walked towards the matching vehicle, pressing the button to unlock the doors.

It was an exceptionally yellow truck, lying somewhere in between a dangerous mustard hue and a strikingly neon gold, as if it were unable to decide. Every inch of the car screamed that it belonged to Yang Xiao Long. Taiyang had tried to talk his daughter out of purchasing it, but it was a match made in heaven according to the vibrant blonde.

Ruby was sure that the truck must be an eyesore to those driving on the road. Of course, not that she was complaining – the very existence of a car meant that she would have a free ride to school everyday. It was one of the great advantages of having an older sibling who could drive. Even if the said driver had been responsible for several accidental crashes and speeding tickets in the past.

"You ready to go?" Yang asked, skipping steps as she ran down, onto the paved road of their uncle's garage.

"Yup," Ruby replied with another question, "Did you remember to lock the door?"

"Of course," scoffed Yang, as she narrowed her eyes. "And did _you_ remember to pack all of your things? I'm not driving back just because you forgot your stupid pencil case or something."

"Yeah right. Like I would risk being late just for a few lousy pencils."

"You did once!" The blonde reminded her with a crooked grin. "Back when you were starting middle school. You made Dad go all the way back when you forgot to pack your new school supplies."

"That was years ago!" Ruby claimed in defense. "Oh, grow up."

Still wearing a teasing smile, a silenced Yang went around the hood and got behind the wheel. Following swiftly, Ruby jumped into the passenger seat. They threw their bags over their heads, tossing them safely onto the backseats of the car. Ruby buckled herself in, watching as Yang mirrored her action and adjusted the side view mirror.

"And by the way, Dad left us a message overnight," mentioned Yang as she started the engine. "He says he got off the plane all right and that he wishes you luck on your first day at school."

"Yay," said Ruby, sounding incredibly unenthusiastic. "That's just what I needed. More encouragement."

"Hey, at least he gave you that." Yang smirked. "All I got was a long lecture on how to drive safely and a death threat if he ever got called down to the Principal's office again."

"Wait. You got called down to the Principal's office?" Ruby laughed, being able to vividly imagine their father's reaction to such an event. "Geez, sis. What did you do?"

"Well, it was that one time." She shrugged. "And I sort of…may have pulled the fire alarm."

"Wow. And why'd you decide to do that?"

"Um… No reason." The blonde sighed, gazing out onto the big road as they drove out of the avenue. "Maybe we should talk about something else, other than the week of detention I got as punishment."

"Sure, sure." Ruby twiddled with her thumbs, watching the trees whoosh by as they moved along the street. "We can talk about…food?"

"Ruby." Yang passed her a disbelieving stare. "We just ate."

"I meant lunch," she added, "obviously."

"Oh. Well, it's just going to be cafeteria food. Don't get your hopes up." Yang grimaced. "Most of it tastes like cardboard boxes, but they do serve a pretty mean burrito on Wednesdays."

"Right…" She gave her sister a wishful smile. "Maybe we can split one later?"

"Um…" Yang hesitated as she stared on ahead, believing that less eye contact would reduce the awkwardness in general. "Ruby, you're going to be a freshman from now on. Don't you think you should, I don't know, start reaching out a bit more?"

"What do you mean?"

"Remember what we talked about yesterday?" Yang gave her a short sideways glance. "About making new friends?"

"…Oh."

There was a momentary silence, replacing the conversation as the blonde steered her attention back onto the road.

Ruby didn't blame her. She knew that Yang meant well when she kept throwing this advice in her face, making it sound like such a common and easy task when it wasn't.

"You'll be just fine," her sister said. That's how everybody addressed this issue whenever she opened up about her dire social insecurities. Little did anyone understand, striking a conversation was as hard as squeezing a watermelon out through one's nostril. Honestly, it was that much of a painful and difficult feat, Ruby liked to contend.

She spent a majority of her time trying to blend in with the crowd. When she was much younger, just starting elementary school, Ruby had ignored both her father and her sister's advice to take off the red cloak her mother had given to her as a birthday present. As a result, Ruby had been nothing less than conspicuous. It was only after people started calling her "Little Red Riding Hood" and boys started pulling on her precious cape that she stopped accessorizing to class. Even without her flamboyant costume wear, Ruby had reddish hair and big silver eyes - courtesy of her late mother, who, from memory, was also stunningly beautiful.

Ruby learned early that being the center of attention was a terrible experience. Most girls, like Yang, took it to their advantage, and rose quickly amidst the school's social ladder. However, Ruby hadn't inherited the same gene of people skills and exuberant confidence. The one time she had dealt with a large audience was at her fourth grade play, and she had such terrible stage fright that she hid backstage until her part was over. A lot had happened since then, but in terms of that personal aspect, Ruby supposed she really hadn't changed that much.

Feeling nervous already, Ruby stared out the window, absentmindedly touching her hair as she did so out of habit. A concerned blonde watched her from the corner of her eye.

"I'll tell you what," Yang finally said, facing Ruby at the next red light. "Why don't you try and socialize during your first few classes? And if you haven't made a ton of friends by lunchtime, I'll introduce you to my friends, okay?"

Her sister always did this; she always knew exactly what to say. Ruby smiled weakly, appreciating the offer immensely.

"Deal."

* * *

It was the first day of the fall semester. As tradition, there was a short orientation at the small school auditorium. Ruby received a class schedule and an agenda for the year, the latter which she would use for about a week, and then most probably misplace.

The students filed out in order, dismissed by their assigned homeroom teachers. Ruby did as she was told, standing by awkwardly as a few girls in her class chattered away, evidently having known each other since middle school. Instead of feeling sorry for herself, Ruby stuck by her schedule, busily making sure she wouldn't get lost in the halls filled with buzzing students. She located her first class with ease, as it was on the same floor of the same building.

The subject: World History. It was taught by Professor Oobleck, whose surname had been etched onto the door. Ruby scampered inside, being one of the last few students to enter. She avoided eye contact with most, and hurried towards an empty seat in the middle. Thankfully, she hadn't been stuck with the front row.

"Is this seat taken?" She asked meekly, whispering the question to a student who was sitting alone.

"No, not at all!" The girl, with vibrant orange hair, answered politely.

"Thanks," Ruby breathed happily, settling down quickly as the teacher began to speak.

"Alright, students! Welcome back to school! I hope all of you had a wonderful summer vacation? Yes? ...No? Well- I, myself, spent most of it hiking through the white desert. It was quite an unforgettable experience, and I do have a lot of pictures to share... But I wouldn't want to run off on another big tangent," Professor Oobleck stopped himself. He fixed his glasses, and then hopped off from his desk. "As you already know, I am Professor Oobleck, and I will be your history teacher for the rest of this semester."

"I'm sure we're all going to have a very interesting, very productive school year," he claimed with unwavering confidence. "Now, I could just as well turn on my projector and get started with our course, beginning with the early human civilizations-"

There was an audible moan, gaining in volume as it echoed around the classroom.

"…But since this is only our first day back, I believe we can all use a little time to get reacquainted with one another," he quickly sidetracked, having expected nothing less from his inspired group of students. "Of course, most of you are already familiar with one another from previous years. However, we've got a few new faces joining us this semester, and we wouldn't want any of them to feel excluded! So, here is what I would like to propose!"

He stopped his rapid pacing, stopping directly in front of his blackboard.

"I've prepared a series of activities we can brave through together," the teacher gleefully announced, clasping his hands together in visible excitement. "Everybody, please check inside your desks. You will all find a single sheet of paper waiting for you."

Following his instructions, Ruby looked into her own and pulled out a short survey.

"On it, you will find a variety of different questions," Professor Oobleck continued. "I want you to find a partner and try to go through as much of the list as possible for the next fifteen minutes. Whoever comes up with the most interesting response can pick what we can do next. How does that sound?"

Ruby sucked in a tiny breath, watching in trepidation as most of the students murmured in agreement to the proposal. It was a blatantly obvious answer: anything would be better than to start off the day with a lecture on ancient civilizations.

"Good!" Their teacher glanced at his watch. "Then, let us begin!"

Incidentally, "find a partner" was one of the most terrifying things a student could ever hear a teacher say on the first day. Add in the words "introvert" and "the new kid" into the mixture, and the completely ordinary situation rapidly turned into one of the biggest natural disasters an awkward teenager would ever have to face.

Gulping quietly, Ruby fidgeted in her seat, glancing around the room with shy caution, hearing the bustling movement of others, the sound of desks and chairs scratching against the floor, and ultimately the cacophony of loud voices, talking and conversing excitedly to each other.

It took a minute for Ruby to realize that the girl sitting next to her hadn't moved from her seat. Sucking a bit of nervous air, she gently tapped her neighbor on the shoulder.

"Um... Hi? Do you have a partner?" Ruby chewed on the inner sides of her cheeks. "Um, would you like to be my partner?"

"Hi! I'm Penny!" The girl must not have heard her initial question. Instead, she extended out a steady hand, and an amiable smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hey, Penny. I'm Ruby." She returned the gesture, with a feebler grin. "It's nice to meet you too. Sorry, I'm just, uh... I'm new here, so I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing..."

"It's all right!" Penny responded swiftly, much to Ruby's grand relief. "I am also new here. But I don't think there is any reason to worry. Everybody here seems wonderful!"

"Yeah? I guess so...?" Ruby laughed nervously. This girl did indeed act nice, though she sounded almost robotic in her speech. It was likely that the redhead was on the borderline of the same level of awkwardness as she was. If so, Penny sure had a knack for hiding her lack of confidence with a cheery greeting.

"Well then, do you want to try answering some of these questions with me?" Ruby decided to whip up the courage to ask.

"Oh, yes." Penny nodded happily. "We most certainly should try answering these questions. After all, that is what our teacher instructed! Would you like me to go first?"

"Uh, sure! Why not?"

"Question number one," she began to read. "What did you do over the summer break?"

"Well... Nothing interesting, I guess," Ruby recounted, in a painfully self-aware manner. "I think I just stayed home mostly... I hung out with my sister and my dad! We didn't go anywhere special this year. I mean- normally we do, but I don't know… This year, everybody seemed kind of busy so... Yeah."

"I see!" Penny, however, lightened up, appearing immensely intrigued by the generic story. "That must have been nice!"

"Er... Thanks?" By this point, it was hard to tell if the girl was being sincere about this or not. Shaking her head, Ruby drove her attention back onto her own parchment of paper. "Um, so what did you do over the break, Penny?"

"I stayed at home as well," the girl said shortly, bobbing her head to a happy rhythm of solidarity.

"...Oh." Ruby mimicked her action. "That's great."

Now, Penny didn't seem to be understanding the concept of ice breakers. She appeared much too determined to whiz through every question at a startling speed, acting as if her only prerogative were to reach the end of the survey. Fortunately, or unfortunately, their history teacher had provided them with a sizable assortment of random inquiries. Even when most of their fifteen minutes were up, they were still only halfway through the list.

"If you had to describe yourself using three words, what would they be?" Penny queried, not ready to take a break anytime soon.

"Uh, I don't know?" Ruby sighed. "Short? Well, I guess I'm not too short, I'm a bit below average. But that's not three words, is it? …Or maybe it is."

"I think you are of average size, Ruby," Penny remarked, then smiled, and then went onto the next question as if this matter needed no further discussion.

"Please tell me a unique aspect of yourself," she sprouted next.

Ruby pondered about this for a minute, wishing she could think of something more impressive than being able to stuff eight Oreos into her mouth at once. "I'm not sure. My sister always told me that it's really weird how I can eat so much sweets without ever getting sick. I don't know if you can call that unique or not..."

"Was that your answer?" Confused, Penny tried to verify.

"No? Not really... Um, I think I can come up with a better- hold on," she began to think aloud. "Well, I guess I kind of have these dreams that…usually have the tendency to come true?"

"Wow... Are you a fortune teller?" Penny looked genuinely surprised, making Ruby realize how stupid her previous statement must have sounded.

"What? No, no!" She immediately tried to explain herself in a panicky fashion. "They're just dreams that I have! It's just that they sometimes-"

"That's fifteen minutes!" Professor Oobleck intervened. "Everybody, please return to your original seats."

"We can continue this next time, friend!" Penny said cheerfully, tucking the paper away into the desk once they finished. Without a second thought, her bright green eyes snapped back onto the professor, who was sipping on his coffee from the front of the classroom.

"Right... Next time." Ruby sighed. She hoped that she hadn't made a complete fool of herself during their conversation. Yang had often told her before that she tried too hard to make a good first impression.

Thankfully, Penny didn't seem to mind when she stumbled and stuttered – perhaps she would be her best prospect for a new friend? After all, that was the exact word the girl had used! Ruby observed the redhead with a hopeful thought.

"Let's move on to our next activity…" She heard the professor say, and Ruby, feeling distracted, heard no more from that point on.

The rest of the hour passed by slowly. After hearing about a few of the student's answers, they ended up playing a little Pictionary, then a couple more games thought of by their teacher.

In less than a minute, the period was bound to end, and Ruby could feel a flow of relief filling her prematurely, comforted by the fact that she would no longer have to participate in the name game. Her memory failed her during the most inconvenient times.

And, of course, she had a much more important task to mull over in her mind.

"Just ask her which class she has next… It's not that hard! She's nice. She's…friendly! It's not like she's going to bite your head off. The worst thing she can say is say no." Ruby groaned inwardly, growing tired of her own anxious voice. "If Yang were here, what would she do? …She'd probably smile, and wink, and say all the right things… But no, that'd be flirting… But it's impossible to tell the difference with her sometimes..."

As soon as she finished wrestling with that thought, the bell rang shrilly across the room.

"Well, I believe that's all we have time for today, class!" Professor Oobleck promptly dismissed them. "Students, please remember to pick up the term syllabus from my desk as you head out the door. We will have regular classes starting from tomorrow. So, have a good day!"

"Hey, Penny!" Ruby piped up, raising her voice against the sudden movement of chairs. "Where…"

Her act of bravery was cut pitifully short. In vain, she noticed all her classmates flying out of their seats like buzzing bees. And Penny, whom Ruby had been rehearsing in her head to befriend, disappeared as quickly as she had rushed through the survey questions. Into the crowd of people she went, and Ruby, feeling utterly defeated with herself, took time to pack her unused notes and papers, and slugged out the backdoor.


	4. The Crew

It was the worst, walking alone when everybody else seemed to have a partner or a friend to talk to. Ruby clammed up, knowing that she had looked forward to starting high school, and growing one year older, but had not bothered to think about the possible obstacles she would have to face.

Fishing around in her pockets, she tried to search for her class schedule instead. There was only one solid object inside her pockets; Ruby pulled it out to see that it was merely a large piece of lint. A hot ball of lead formed in the pits of her stomach.

"Oh no..." She muttered, frantically frisking around her pants, and her bag, to make sure that both her options weren't just empty. "Oh no, no, no..."

It was one lousy piece of parchment! She'd only been to one other class since the opening ceremony, where could she have lost it? How could she have possibly lost it?

Panic started to unfold, as Ruby noticed that everyone around her moved busily. The halls were beginning to empty, and she had no clue where her next destination was supposed to be. She couldn't be late to her next class. Then she would have to go through the dreadful experience of being the late student, entering a room with dozens of other people, watching her with hawk eyes, and a disapproving professor who would permanently remember her for being tardy.

Ruby shook her head violently, shaking away the horrible vision. She couldn't do that. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to turn back! She could ask Professor Oobleck if he knew where she had to go, he was informed enough, and he was a teacher for crying out loud. Ruby pivoted on her feet, determined to make this work, when...

Thud.

There was the rush of clattering books, and she felt the air momentarily leave her lungs.

"Woah!" Ruby spun on her toes, and thanks to her amazing lack of balance, fell down on her rear end with a painfully embarrassing crash. "Ow..."

Rubbing her hips, she glanced forward, noticing a pair of slim legs standing next to her; they probably belonged to the person she had accidentally bumped into. Ruby moved her gaze upwards, observing the girl in the skirt; she was crossing her arms, wearing a rather neutral expression with her lips pressed together in a thin line. What was most puzzling about her was her hair - it was as fair and white as snow. It went much farther than any platinum blonde she had ever seen in her entire life.

She seemed nice enough, Ruby thought. Perhaps she would spare the time and tell her where her next class should be.

"What do you think you're doing?" The girl glowered down at her.

But then again, maybe not.

Ruby gulped, knowing all too well that the tone of her voice was laced with nothing more than pure annoyance.

"Sorry… I wasn't really looking where I was going and uh-" She let out another small, apologetic gasp, noticing the pile of books scattered across the floor. She must have tackled them out of the girl's arms somehow. "Here! Let me help you with that…"

"It's fine," the stranger growled. "Leave them."

"No, no, it was my fault! I'll get it," Ruby told her, kneeling as she snatched up the books before the other could. "I'm really sorry! I was just trying to figure out where I was, and where I should be going and…"

Words failed her when she looked upwards, finally mustering the courage to meet her victim in the eye.

"And what?" The girl questioned coldly, sounding hardly interested in her long tirade.

"Huh?" Ruby staggered back, experiencing that terrible feeling of forgetting what she meant to say mid-sentence. "Um… I…"

"You're staring," she snapped, and the accusation did not help Ruby sort out her thoughts at all.

"Oh, oops." She felt a wave of heat swim through her cheeks. Ruby ogled down at her sneakers, blinking and realizing that she had been fixating on the girl's face for far too long. "I didn't mean to- It's just you have really pretty eyes, and uh… Sorry."

"Is that all you know how to say?" The girl asked her sharply, treating Ruby as if she were much below normal human intelligence. "I'm going to be late for my next class. Shouldn't you be heading there as well?"

"Well, that's kind of where I was hoping to go before I ran into you," she mumbled incoherently.

"You're a freshman, are you not?" Ruby frowned, wondering if the whole 'I'm-lost-please-help-me' expression was much too telling. "All freshmen are supposed to be down at the gymnasium for third period."

The girl even went as far as pointing to a stairwell that went north. "It's over in that direction, since you seem hopelessly lost," the upperclassman stated, spelling it out for her with utter frankness.

"Oh. Okay." Ruby nodded, feeling quite dazed at the unexpected assistance. "Thanks!"

"And just watch where you're going next time," the girl huffed, not forgetting to send her one last crossed stare before turning on her heels.

"Okay, I will!" Ruby shouted towards her retreating back figure. "Sorry- I mean, bye!"

Good grief, she sighed. Today was going to be an excruciatingly long day.

* * *

"Hey, sis..."

In just the two words, Yang could already sense that her sister was in no mood for careless jokes. Ruby was standing in the corner of the cafeteria, her head drooped down in pitiful silence, like a lost puppy, with her fingers squirming together in shameful discomfort.

"Hey, Rubes." The blonde patted her around the back, deciding not to press the matter anytime soon. "Come on, my friends are all sitting over there."

Yang had to practically carry her sister down the aisle, moving past the packed tables until she reached one in the far left section of the building. It was a simply bench, capable of holding at least six people together. Coincidentally, four people were already sitting in its seats.

"Look, can we all just scoot a little- Nora, do you mind?" Yang addressed one friend in particular, giving her a steely, impatient glare. A girl with spunky orange hair gave Ruby one solid stare, before breaking down into a broad grin and moving down a space. Ruby climbed in, sliding over onto the wooden bench.

"Okay, guys. This is my little sister, Ruby." Yang gestured towards the small gathering. "Ruby, these are my friends. This is Pyrrha-"

"Hello." A tall redhead, with bottle green eyes, waved pleasantly at her.

"-Ren."

"Hi," the boy to her right said simply. He fashioned a very interesting hair style, with a single pink highlight running across the front of his bangs.

"I'm Nora!" The same girl from before, who sat across from Ren, introduced herself before Yang could.

"Uh… Hello, Nora?" Ruby squeaked, allowing her hand to be taken into a strong, excited handshake. She passed a nervous glance towards the last person remaining around the table.

"And I'm Jaune Arc," the blond upperclassman, sitting next to Pyrrha, said smoothly. Wearing a white grin, he proudly pointed at himself; Ruby wasn't sure if he was trying to flirt or if he was simply trying to sound confident about himself.

"That's a cool name," Ruby commented anxiously, scratching her head as she looked down at her feet. "Um, well, it's very nice to meet you guys."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Ruby," replied Pyrrha, coming off as a very good-natured person. "Where did you used to go to school before you moved here?"

"It wasn't too far away, just like an hour or so by bus, but I thought it'd be nice to start someplace new! And Yang seemed to really like her school so, it felt like a good idea," Ruby twittered on, wishing her answer didn't make her sound like she harbored an unhealthy attachment to her older sister.

"Hey, after we're done eating, we were thinking of showing you around the school," Yang informed her, poking at her food as she peered around the table. "What do you think?"

"That would be great," she accepted immediately, feeling a huge weight being lifted off her chest. "I would really appreciate it! I got lost a couple times already since this morning. This place is so huge."

"Yeah, I remember my first day here," Jaune added on in a relating manner. "I was late and I couldn't find my way to the auditorium, so I ended up almost missing the whole orientation. I had to ask for directions from the janitor, and he practically took me there just to make sure I didn't get lost again."

"That must have been terrible."

"I think the word you're looking for is pathetic," Yang corrected her.

There was another round of collective chatter, lasting for at least the next fifteen minutes. For the most of it, despite being invited, Ruby sat quietly and observed. Her sister had assembled an extremely lively group of friends for herself. Pyrrha Nikos, with her scarlet red hair and light green eyes, was a definite eye-catcher. And yet, she was incredibly modest, soft-spoken for someone with such a vividly pretty appearance. Her closest friend, Jaune, seemed equally approachable in manner, but mostly because of his charmingly failed attempts at humor.

Most of his jokes, or cheesy lines, were met with a groan from his friends. And the few instances when he was serious, Jaune appeared to have the remarkable ability to make a complete fool of himself. This was a trait Ruby could dearly relate to.

Lie Ren was more of a mystery, but his voluntary silence wasn't cold or off-putting. After all, he did occasionally smile at Nora whenever she made up exaggerated stories and gossips about their own crew.

As such, with so many points to focus on, Ruby hardly touched her food throughout the meal. She knew that she would be regretting this decision later, especially during the last period, but she told Yang that she was full anyway. The rest of her sister's friends cleaned off their plates in due time, and then they were off to buy dessert at the vending machine.

As they munched on a few granola sticks and unhealthy candy bars, they made their way back towards the main school building. The halls felt much smaller, now that she was traveling with a group of five. Ruby didn't feel too odd though, as Yang stepped quite closely to her, making sure her sibling was receiving the proper tour.

"That's the high school principal." Her sister pointed discreetly to a middle-aged man down the hall, standing near the main office door. "He's pretty chill, but you wouldn't want to cross paths with his assistant, our vice-principal. She's known to give out detentions like candy on Halloween night. Oh- and speak of the devil, here she comes now."

There was an ominous clicking of heels against the marble floor. A woman, with a tight bun, and a set of even tighter lips, came careening around the corner.

"Yikes." The blonde cringed, failing to hide behind her sister's smaller form. "Come on. Let's get out of here before she sees me."

The rest of the journey didn't take too much time. After the classrooms, the computer room, the science lab, the library, and the main office, there wasn't much left to see. The last stop that they made was the gymnasium, which Ruby already knew her way to, due to her semi-fortunate encounter with a grouchy upperclassman. Ruby recounted the story briefly to Yang, who laughed it off, teasing her sister for being such a ridiculous klutz.

At the end of it, Ruby could let out a breath of relief.

Maybe the new school year wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Where do you guys want to go next?" Yang addressed the others, coming to a slow stop in front of the plastic bleachers. "We can go outside? Or we can just stay here until the bell rings?"

"Actually, I have to drop by the library again." Jaune sighed, pulling out several tattered old comic books from his backpack. "I've got a few things I forgot to return over the break and I know I have a big fine to pay already. You guys could head outside and I can catch up with you later?"

"Why didn't you do that when we were over there a couple of minutes ago?" Yang complained. "And since when do you borrow books from the- Oh, sweet! It's the new issue of X-Ray and Vav!"

"So I guess Yang's coming with me…" Jaune concluded, cocking an eyebrow at his fellow blonde friend, who had snatched the comics away from his hands.

"We can all go together!" Nora seconded the boy's opinion, seeming to enjoy the idea immensely. Smiling widely, she locked arms with Ruby and dragged her down the halls against her will. "Trust me, the library's the number one place for an afternoon nap."

"Uh, but…" Ruby passed the girl a quizzical expression. "Aren't libraries meant for reading?"

"Try telling her that," Ren answered instead, sounding resigned as he trailed his eccentric friend.

* * *

 _"So, how was your first day at school, sis?" The blonde asked casually, wearing a perfectly cheery mood as she got into the front seat of her truck. "Did you enjoy it?"_

 _"Yeah, it wasn't as bad as I imagined it." Ruby exhaled through her nose, feeling safer now that they were on their way home. "You were right. High school isn't as big as I made it up to be."_

 _"And...?" Yang brought up the topic eventually. The engine bought her another moment, as the car started with a mighty, thunderous growl. "Did you try taking my advice?"_

 _"Yeah! I tried talking to some people, I really, really did! I think I might even end up being friends with one of them. Her name was... Penny something. She was a bit weird, but who am I to judge, right?" Ruby sighed as Yang let out a small, hearty laugh. "Anyways, your friends seemed really cool."_

 _"Yeah, and they seemed to like you a lot too!" The blonde agreed with a smile. "You're welcome to sit with us anytime you want by the way. They won't mind. I mean, who can blame them? They've heard a lot of nice stories about you. They were just dying to meet the famous Ruby Rose."_

 _"Aw, you told your friends about me?" She looked up, not knowing what to expect as she peered into her sister's twinkling lilac eyes._

 _"Oh, yeah. Loads." Yang nodded vigorously. "I told them all about my annoying little sister, who talks a lot in her sleep by the way."_

 _"Yang!" Ruby rebuked her almost immediately, appearing greatly offended by the statement. "Just what are you going around telling people?"_

 _"Nothing!" Her sister claimed, not bothering to conceal that signature smirk of hers. "Oh, come on, Rubes. That's what I get to do as the older sibling, isn't it? It's my birth right. Besides, it'd be a great conversation starter, don't you thi-"_

 _Her words ended abruptly, replaced by the sound of a loud disturbing thump; the blonde's attention flipped back onto the road, just as Ruby heard the audible screech of tires burning against the cement road. The truck came to a sudden stomach lurching halt and both passengers' heads snapped back from the whiplash._

 _Several cars honked from behind as Yang, wearing a look of wild fear, tried to poke her head out of the window. Yet nothing stood in front of them: not a tree, not a car, not a single innocent bystander. Or at least... There was no body that they could see._

 _The blonde turned, in slow suspense as she faced Ruby._

 _"Um." Yang gulped. "What the hell was that?"_


	5. The Stray

"Excuse me."

"Ungh..."

" _Excuse_ me."

"Mhmm..."

"Wake up!"

"Ow!" Ruby hissed, feeling a sharp jab as she awoke.

Through groggy eyes, Ruby saw that she was still at the school library, having been unceremoniously woken up by someone. There was a small spot of drool on the book she had been using as a pillow.

"What was that for, Yang?" Grumbling, Ruby shook her head, and squinted up at the person who had rudely interrupted her dream. Her jaw slackened slightly, and her eyes froze still like a deer caught in headlights.

It wasn't her sister, Ruby noticed very quickly, and her hands were already beginning to sweat as a result. It was the girl from before, the one with the big, blue eyes.

And once again, she looked quite positively furious.

"Oh. Um, hi." Ruby greeted her with a nervous smile. "Can I help you?"

"You were snoring," the girl deadpanned.

"Um..." Ruby took a moment to process that. "Uh, what?"

"This is the school library, not your personal bedroom," she stated briskly. "If you're going to be loud, I ask that you take it outside."

Wow.

Her tongue was resolutely glued to the roof of her mouth. And the longer she stayed silent, the angrier the girl appeared to become.

"Um, okay, sure!" Ruby let out hastily. "Sorry, it won't happen again."

The girl made a small, derisive sound, which Ruby decided to interpret as a sign that the conversation was over. She kept herself from rolling her eyes, knowing that this, in fact, had been her own fault. Although in the back of her mind, Ruby knew that the older student could have been more polite in expressing her displeasure…

With her white hair, sweeping across her shoulders as she stood up in a huff, the girl began to pile up her books in an orderly fashion.

Ruby inwardly groaned. Had she embarrassed herself that badly, for the second time on the same day? To make matters worse, it had been in front of the same person! She strongly hoped that the girl wasn't just moving away because of her, although that was exactly what the situation seemed to look like from her side.

"I have a class to get to," the girl spoke abruptly, as if intentionally cutting Ruby away from her thoughts. "Maybe you should be too, if you don't want to end up lost again."

Oh god, she remembered. Ruby nearly moaned, feeling the heat flooding the top corners of her cheeks. "Right… Um, actually, I'm waiting for someone."

Her sister. Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora. Where on earth could they have all possibly went?

"Did you get separated from your group?" A pitying tone of voice asked her. It was the nicest way of asking if she had any friends at all.

"What? No! No… I don't think so?" Ruby couldn't help but doubt herself, her head lofting to the left. "I'm sure they… Oh! Thank god, there they are. I see them coming in now."

She let out a huge breath of relief, catching the messy mane of blonde hair, emerging through the front entrance of the library. Yang waved at her from the distance.

"Well…" The girl pursed her lips, sounding like she could add much more if she truly wanted to. "Good," she ended up saying, and that was final. With her books packed and ready to leave, she tucked in her chair and promptly left, vanishing behind the shelves of books.

"Sorry we took so long!" Yang, and her friends, appeared in turn. In her hand, she held an extra colorful treat. "We came back with ice cream!"

"Where are Ren and Nora?" Jaune asked as he shared a small chocolate bar with Pyrrha. "I thought they were here with you?"

"Um… I don't know," Ruby answered, wringing her hands together in secret. "I didn't really see where they went."

"Well, it's not much of a surprise," said Jaune, shrugging his shoulders as he chomped off a large portion of the candy bar. "Ren and Nora, I mean. They always go off by themselves. They're practically dating without even knowing it."

"Geez, sis. Did you snooze off already?" Yang teased her, pointing to a spot of drool still remaining on her chin. Ruby rushed to swipe it off with her sleeve, hoping neither Jaune nor Pyrrha had noticed.

"Yeah, oops." Ruby laughed sheepishly. "I guess I didn't get much sleep last night. Honestly, I think I can fall asleep just about anywhere."

"Here's yours." Yang passed Ruby a fudge cream, which was still tucked in its wrappers. "Eat it before it melts."

Before Ruby could accept, another shrill voice echoed from across the room.

"And what do you think you're doing with that?" A lady in uniform shouted in protest. Face turning a shade of puce, her hand pointed at their faces in sharp accusation. Tight-lipped and pale, the librarian appeared quite offended by their recent choices. "Eating in the library? Outrageous! Out! I said, out!"

"Uh oh." Yang winced, mumbling a feeble apology as she followed Jaune and Pyrrha being chased out the door.

Sighing, Ruby grabbed her books and stuck them roughly into her backpack. She took two more steps towards the exit before remembering the dream she had just had.

* * *

"Hey, sis! Are you sure you didn't have anything else to do after classes?" Ruby shouted from behind, jogging to keep up with her sister's agile pace. "Maybe a club meeting you're forgetting about? Or a professor you need to talk to?"

"Nope!" Yang laughed at the idea. "It's the first day of school. What do you expect?"

"Uh… You don't need to talk to your friends either?" Ruby suggested nonetheless. "Hang out with them for a while? Grab a cup of coffee or something? It's the first day back, like you said! Don't you have some catching up to do?"

"It's fine." The blonde stopped only for a moment, to throw her sibling a quizzical look. "I'll see them again tomorrow, Ruby. It's not like anything's going to happen to them in just one day."

"Hey, then… Um…" Ruby didn't wish to be deterred, not even as the two walked across the emptying parking lot of the school. "Then how about we take the bus for a change?"

"The bus? What are you talking about?" Yang laughed at her suggestion. "We drove here this morning. I'm not leaving my car here overnight."

"Yeah… But, you know, buses!" Ruby tried her best to sell her argument. "They're great! They're nice. There are always new people to talk to, and it almost never smells bad?"

"Sure." The blonde snorted, not so much as giving it a second thought as she took out her keys. With a small beeping sound, the car lights blinked on and off, and the doors unlocked.

"Are you getting in or not?" Yang frowned, asking Ruby who remained unresponsive as she opened the passenger door. "You know, if you keep standing there like that, I'm just going to leave you behind?"

"Um… Yeah, okay, fine," Ruby relented, deciding that there were no other alternatives to this matter. She couldn't avoid the inevitable. "I'll get in."

The truck creaked and squeaked as they clambered in. Like usual, Yang threw her belongings into the empty compartments in the back. Ruby mirrored the gesture, but this time made sure that their bags were secured and strapped, not at the risk of bouncing off from their seats at an abrupt red light.

"So, how was your-"

"Seatbelts!" Ruby suddenly piped.

"What?" Yang seemed a bit befuddled.

"Fasten your seatbelt, okay?" Ruby glowered at her sister to follow commands. "Seatbelts save lives."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Yang mumbled her response, reaching out and buckling the leather strap across her chest. "Sheesh, I'm not in grade school, Rubes."

It made Ruby feel a bit guilty, as she knew that out of all things, what her older sister hated the most was being babied. But today, she believed that her warnings were justified. After all, it never hurt to be too safe.

"Anyways… How was your first day at school?" The blonde asked again, seeming to be in a slightly disgruntled mood now, as she sat in the front seat of her truck. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Yeah, it wasn't as bad as I imagined it..." Ruby didn't mull over the question too much, her silver eyes staggering back and forth in alert.

"And?" Yang insisted on the topic. There was a familiar rumble as the engine started, and Ruby felt the apprehension grow inside her once more. "Did you try taking my advice?"

"…What?" Ruby blinked, registering the inquiry a moment too late. She remembered how the conversation went, and gathered her response from bits and pieces of her memory. "Oh yeah! I tried talking to loads of people... Uh, I think I might even end up being friends with one of them. Her name's Penny. She's pretty cool. And your friends were really cool too."

"Yeah, and they liked you a lot too." The blonde agreed, a cheery smile returning to her visage. "You're welcome to sit with us anytime you want by the way. They won't mind. I mean, who can blame them? They've heard a lot of nice stories about you. They were just dying to meet the famous Ruby Rose."

"Yeah... Uh huh." Ruby bobbed her head, ignoring much of what her sister was saying as she kept her eyes fixed on the road. "That's great, sis."

"Um. You okay, Rubes? You seem a bit...on the edge." Yang passed her a hesitant glance. "Is there something on your mind? Did something happen at school?"

"It's nothing!" Ruby squeaked, peering out the front window. "I'm fine, I'm just-"

She never had the chance of finishing, words cut abruptly as her eyes spotted something in the distance; a black shadow appeared in her vision, moving sluggishly across the road, just a hundred meters to their front.

"Stop the car."

"What?"

"I said stop the car!" Ruby shouted, a combative look in her eyes. "Stop it!"

The truck lurched forward in an instant, greeting them with a second of silent screams and the high-pitched hissing of tires against the tarmac. Their bodies hovered forward, only for a moment, before violently dipping back onto the cushioned lining of their seats. Loud honks echoed from behind. Ruby groaned, massaging the back of her head as she turned her attention back onto the road.

"What the hell, Ruby?" Yang growled, blowing hair away from her face as she glared at her sister in outrage. "You could have gotten us both killed!"

"Look!" Ruby pointed instead, barely catching the shadow as it safely vanished onto the other side of the road.

"Look at what- Damn it!" Yang violently swore as she turned on the emergency lights. She stuck her head out of the window shortly afterwards, yelling at the cars honking behind her with little apology. "I get it! Shut up!"

A few men hollered at them as they passed by, signalling rude hand gestures at them as they drove to a different lane.

"Could you pull up onto the side?" Ruby demanded, her eyes gleaming over the bushes by the pedestrian road. "I want to check something."

"Of course you do," the blonde grunted underneath her breath, acting very reluctant as she parked the truck by the edge of the curb. Ruby jumped out of her seat, long before the car had gone into a full stop. She squeezed through the small bushes, searching the ground for the same black shadow she had seen on the road.

There was a series of loud profane words, as Yang emerged from behind. The blonde stopped momentarily as she stood by Ruby, peering over her shoulders with mild curiosity.

Her eyes landed on a small quivering mass of fur, twitching in the middle of a patch of grass. Black, with four legs, and a thin scruffy tail.

"It's...a cat," Yang observed, her voice positively drenched with disbelief. "You made me stop traffic for a _cat_?"

"Come on, sis," Ruby tried to make her sympathize, pointing down as she crouched on her knees. "Look at her... I think she might be hurt."

"Um… Ruby?" The blonde stepped back, openly staring as her sister took the defenseless feline into her arms. "What are you doing?"

"Aw, Yang," cooed Ruby, holding the cat carefully with both hands, like a bird's nest with a dozen eggs. "Can we take her home, please? Oh, please, please, please?"

"Are you crazy?" Yang recovered at once, throwing her sister, and the creature, a distinctively disapproving look. "We can't take care of a cat! We don't know a single thing about them!"

"Sure, we can!" Ruby retorted, without much consideration. "We took care of Zwei when he was just a little puppy!"

"That was different." Yang groaned. "Dad got him for us when we were kids, and he did most of the work. Besides, how do we even know if it's safe? This one could have rabies or some other kind of road disease."

"It's a she," noted Ruby, turning the cat over in her arms. "She's a girl."

"It doesn't make a difference." Yang rolled her eyes. "She's probably just a stray. We should leave her alone and just go on our way."

"I don't think so." Frowning, Ruby noticed a metal band tucked underneath the animal's fur. "See? There's a collar around her neck. She probably belongs to someone."

"Yeah… But there isn't a name tag or anything," muttered the blonde, squatting down on her ankles to share a closer look. The feline barely moved, shivering under her touch as Yang tugged on its choker. Its eyes remained closed, but her ears flattened in possible fear.

"There's a number right there," Ruby pointed out. "What's it say?"

"Zero… One… Four," Yang read aloud. Her brows furrowed in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean? Fourteen? That can't be its name, right? I think that borders on animal cruelty."

"But it's got to mean something, right?" Ruby urged. "Can we please keep her until her owner shows up?"

It was an innocent thought, perhaps. Yang pursed her lips. "I'm not too sure about this... Taking in a stray..."

"I'm telling you, a stray wouldn't be this docile around humans," argued Ruby. "If she really doesn't have a home, then we'll take her to a shelter after a couple of weeks."

"A _couple_ of weeks?"

"Come on, Yang." Ruby begged, just enough to win over her endearing sister. "Please?"

"...Fine," the blonde grumbled, resigning to the fact that she could never argue against Ruby, not when she starts showing off her notorious puppy eyes. "We can keep her for one week, but that's it. And I'm not putting up with any of her mess either, all right? If she ruins even one piece of furniture, that kitty's got to go."

"That sounds reasonable to me!" A giddy Ruby pulled the feline closer to her face, gently scratching the fuzzy tufts of its neck. It took a moment, but the cat finally opened her bleary eyes, bright amber irises gazing up at them for a fleeting second, before retreating back under her eyelids.

"Can we drop by the store first and get her some things?" Ruby suggested.

"She's not _our_ pet, Ruby," said Yang, sounding a little flat. "We'll put up some fliers, but that's it."

"But she'll need some food until somebody comes looking for her!" A smile flitted across her face. "Aw, just look at her little whiskers. See how adorable she is? We can't let her starve to death."

"We're taking that thing to the vet first," Yang stated, her grimace having softened for the most part. "It looks like it hasn't been properly fed in days."

The cat seemed to cough in agreement.


	6. The Runaway

It had been a long visit to the veterinarian's office. Ruby and Yang waited inside the clinic, as patiently as they could while the vet checked off each medical procedure, searching for any signs of illnesses, injuries, or lack of immunizations. As Yang suspected, the cat had not been microchipped, which she took as a sure sign that it had to be a stray.

After an hour or so, when they were finally called back in, there was only good news much to Yang's chagrin.

"I ran a few tests on her and thankfully there are no signs of any abnormalities. She's in good health, just a little underfed and worn out," the woman explained, speaking in a nasal tone. "Her heart rate is slightly high and her pupils are still dilated, but it's nothing too concerning."

"So, you don't think she's feral or a stray?" Yang asked, not being able to hide her dismay.

"I believe the chances of that are quite low. It's most likely that somebody's lost her," the doctor gave her own professional opinion. "Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to be carrying any proper ID, but I can direct you to a few nearby animal shelters where they might have more luck in locating her home."

"That sounds great," Ruby let out a breath of relief, "Thank you."

The woman explained to them about how to proceed from there, advising that they think twice before taking in a lost animal, which would require a lot of work, time, and extra living expenses. Nevertheless, Ruby promised to be responsible and insisted that they take her home. She left their contact information at the office in case of an emergency or if the original owner came in looking for her misplaced cat.

By the time they reached home, Yang was certainly not very happy about the situation.

Tired and hungry, she dropped their backpacks onto the living room sofa and headed straight for the kitchen. She opened the fridge but found nothing suitable enough for a satisfying meal. With a heavy, disappointed sigh, she took out some containers instead and began microwaving the leftovers from yesterday night.

Ruby walked into the house several minutes after her, holding a bulging plastic bag in one arm and cradling the stray in the other. She set the bag down onto the countertops, tipping it over to reveal a myriad of contents. The blonde felt her jaw twitch at the sight, surveying the scatter of supplies ranging from brushes and toys to canned food and small boxes of kitty litter. Even the cat seemed a bit overwhelmed by the pile, squirming uncomfortably in Ruby's arms.

"Oh my god, Ruby." Yang had a good reason to be livid. "What have you done?"

"What?" Her sister replied back innocently. "There was a sale going on."

"A sale for what?" She passed her a look of disbelief. "The entire store?"

"It's not that big of a deal! I just got a couple of things, you know, to make sure she feels comfortable until her owner comes and gets her," Ruby maintained, beaming as if she were proud of her own shopping capabilities.

"You did pay for all of this, right?" Yang found herself asking, narrowing her eyes in belated skepticism.

"Of course I did." Ruby rolled her eyes at the suggestion. "Don't worry about it, sis. I've been saving up my allowance for the whole summer."

"Okay? Then, first of all, you better pay me back for the fifty bucks I spent at the hospital," Yang pointed out with a smirk. "And secondly, how is this all necessary for the cat to feel comfortable? You were supposed to get cat litter and food. That was it."

"But… They were selling catnip!" Ruby argued, pulling out a toy wand with a little mouse attached to the end of a braided wire. "She'll love it! Watch."

To prove a point, Ruby set the cat back down on the floor, overflowing with joy and excitement as she dangled the stuffed animal in front of her.

"Come on, girl," Ruby cooed, teasing the feline even more. "Get the mouse! Get the mouse, get it!"

The cat reacted exactly as Yang would have hoped. She curled into her legs, sitting and staring awkwardly at Ruby as if the thought of chasing a fake rodent off a stick was absurd.

"Oh, you're absolutely right, sis!" Yang laughed rather uncontrollably. "That's money well spent."

"I guess she's just tired," Ruby reasoned, pausing the play for the time being. "I'm going to put her to sleep. There were some spare blankets and cushions in the closet upstairs, right?"

"Yeah, but we're keeping that thing down here where there is no carpet," the blonde declared, firmly drawing the line with her sister and their new companion.

"I know, I know." Ruby brushed her off, kneeling down to engage with the cat once again. "Don't worry, little kitty. You're going to be sleeping with me tonight!"

The cat did nothing to respond to this, oddly stiffening as Ruby patted down the lines of her fur. Her tail remained low, curving below the body.

"But first, how about I draw you a nice warm bath?" Ruby proposed. "It'll be fun! You love baths, right? Trust me, the water's not so scary when there are bubbles in them."

"We are not going to give the cat a bubble bath. This isn't Pet Palace," Yang cut in, deciding to handle the situation before Ruby's affections grew steadily worse. "Now, quit petting that thing otherwise you're going to get attached to it."

"Yeah, sure," Ruby answered, though she did not cease her actions. "By the way, what do you think we should name her?"

"What did I just say?"

"She needs a name, sis!"

"I don't know!" Yang groaned. "What do people call their cats? Max or Whiskers or something."

"Those are all really unoriginal names," Ruby complained, obviously dissatisfied. "Can we try being a little more creative here?"

"Okay… Then how about we go with Catastrophe?" Without meaning to, Yang began to chuckle. "Or, um… Domesti-cat?"

"No puns allowed! She needs a serious name," Ruby defended the cat's dignity in her stead. "Oh! How about Ninja Assassinator? Since she's so cool and mysterious."

"Oh… Well, sure." The blonde rolled her eyes. "If you want all the other cats to be laughing at her?"

"Gee, it's not easy coming up with a good name." Her sister realized fairly soon. "I mean, you're the one who named Zwei when we were younger. How'd you come up with that on your own?"

"Zwei's different. You know I've always been more of a dog person than a cat person," Yang grunted, crossing her arms as she remembered her past experiences with felines. "What do cats ever do for you anyway? You leave them alone, they disappear for a couple of days, and then they come back whenever they feel like it."

Ruby simply hummed in quick dismissal. "Aw, you're just grumpy because you haven't eaten dinner yet."

"Well, duh!" Yang agreed, huffing in exasperation. "It's almost eight and all we have at home are some day-old egg rolls!"

"Okay, okay. How about you order us some more food and I'll think of a proper name for her." Ruby grinned. "Oh! What do you think about calling her Corn for now? Like the color of her eyes?"

"Corn, really?" The blonde wrinkled her nose. "Honestly, I think I liked the Ninja Assassinator better. We could've shortened it to N.A. and people will think she's not available."

Ruby looked at her, for a single instant, with something faintly like a reproach.

"I think _Corn_ and I are going to go and draw a nice bath now," she announced as she coddled the cat back into her arms. "You can stay here and keep making lame jokes by yourself."

"Gladly," Yang said, in a tone that sounded quite a bit like "It's about time."

* * *

Several hours later, Yang awoke in the middle of the night.

Darkness had fallen over the skies, and a sliver of moonlight seeped through from behind the curtains. Yang opened and closed her mouth, feeling unusually parched and hot. She scooted over on her bed, onto the breezier side of her blankets, determined not to be bothered. Nevertheless, the more she tried not to think about it, the thirst grew too unbearable to ignore.

Annoyed and heavy-eyed, she groggily rose from her bed. Careful not to stumble, the blonde begrudgingly made her way downstairs, leaning heavily against the wall as she dragged her body into the kitchen. She fumbled for a cup of water in the darkness.

When her eyes had adjusted enough, she checked the wall clock over her head. It was nearly three o'clock in the morning, and Ruby's bedroom was quieter than usual. She checked to make sure her sister was asleep and heard a few soft snores from the other side of the door. Yawning, and setting down her finished cup of water, Yang trudged up the stairs, headed back towards her own room.

There was a slight scuttle, somewhere in the distance. Yang paused, frowning as she focused on the noise. It was silent again, and the blonde shrugged, deciding that it had been the wind.

It didn't take long for Yang to fling herself back onto her mattress. She sighed, hugging her pillow close to her stomach as she rolled over onto her side. She thought she heard another weird sound, like a muffled creaking of wood. Her eyes snapped open again, and this time, there was more to greet her than a half-opened door.

Bright yellow eyes were gleaming at her, piercing through the dark. A black profile outlined against the empty background of her room.

"Holy shit!" Yang felt herself stagger backward in alarm. She calmed herself a moment after, patting down her heart that had nearly ruptured. "You scared me half to death, you stupid cat!"

Now huddled in the corner, the cat blinked rather slowly at her. Yang wasn't sure if this was a sign of rejection or a greeting.

"What are you even doing in here? You're supposed to be downstairs with Ruby," Yang reminded the creature in a disapproving tone.

Then, she scratched the back of her neck, aware that silence would be her only response.

"And what am I doing? I'm sitting here, talking to a cat," she mumbled gruffly to herself. "That's it, I'm going back to bed."

Plodding down on her back, the blonde threw her blanket over her face. It was uncomfortable, and though she was exhausted, she couldn't close her eyes now, not when she wasn't sure if there were an unwelcomed presence in the room.

"Great, now I can't sleep," growled the blonde, jerking her sheets aside as she glared up at the ceiling. "Are you still there, cat?"

Yang really hadn't been expecting anything in response, and it shocked her to hear a sound coming from the dark. It was quiet; a small, almost toneless mew, but it followed the blonde at the end of her question.

"Wait." Yang abruptly sat up in turn. "Did you just answer me?"

It must have been a trick of her mind, as the cat froze into a deadly still stance, glowering at her with a wide, impenetrable stare.

"Ugh, I must still be half-asleep." Yang waved off the idea. Nor, in the late-night circumstances, did it strike her as anything important. "You're a weird one, aren't you?"

It didn't say anything in reply, of course, but her eyes were still large and unblinking. They never looked real, shining too brightly amidst the dark. This was why cats were such a nuisance, the blonde decided; Yang could never figure out what they were thinking.

"Well, what do you want, cat?" In hindsight, Yang thought, the Ninja Assassinator really would have been a better-suited name for the pet. "Was Ruby cuddling you with too much love? Or does she snore too loudly or something? Because sleeping with me won't do you any better."

The blonde didn't find any difference in conduct, merely silence. Then, breaking all lines of unspoken agreement, the cat began to edge closer towards Yang, which naturally, set off an alarm of panic.

"Hey, hey, hey! Not cool! Don't you come on over here?" Yang wagged her finger, raising her tone in warning.

She stopped as if understanding what the blonde had said, which was even odder. The cat paused at the foot of the bedpost, both paws still resting on the ground carpet.

"Yes, exactly." Yang sighed, glad that she held some form of authority in the household. "Stay right there and don't move."

She didn't move, staying unexpectedly obedient. Yang took this to be enough for now, deciding that she would deal with the cat and its problem with boundaries in the morning.

"Damn it, Ruby," the blonde cursed into the air, hoping her sister would hear her somehow and sense some guilt. "I knew this would happen. I knew I'd end up taking care of this stupid thing."

As she pushed her discontent aside for tomorrow, sleep began to pool under her eyelids again, prepared to take her back into a peaceful silence. She was not aware, for some time, of a plaintive sound echoing from below.

Her ears tensed in response.

It sounded like a human whimper, a low-pitched, unhappy noise. Yang tossed and turned in her bed until finally, she couldn't stand listening to it any longer.

"I can't believe this…" The blonde grumbled to herself, scooting over to the foot of her bed. With all the frustration and curiosity that awoke inside her, she peered down at the ground. As anticipated, she found a small mass of fur in the same spot as before.

Except, something had changed. Something had been broken from before.

For as long as lived, Yang had never seen something looking so fearful of the world. Ears held back, tail tucked in, and hair standing on end. All of which was nothing compared to her mournful cries, which grew louder by the second, each one more troubling than the one before.

Was she having a nightmare? Did cats even have nightmares?

It was a vulnerability in its rawest form, and immediately Yang felt her anger dissipate, her eyes softening at the sight.

"Hey…" Yang tried to calm her, but giving it attention appeared to only make it worse. The shadow shifted past her outstretched hand, acting so quickly like a flickering light in the dark.

"Wait. It's okay," Yang spoke in a whisper, smoothing her hair as she clambered out from the covers again. The blonde cleared her throat, getting down on her ankles as she leveled with large amber eyes, now fully alert, frightened and disturbed.

"No, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise," Yang murmured, lowering her voice to come across as less threatening. "And I didn't mean to yell at you before. I'm sorry, I'm just not very fond of cats, that's all."

As a cat, perhaps this wasn't such good news to hear. The small feline backed away before hitting a wall, scrunching into yet another defensive hunch.

"No, let me explain! Right, um… Don't tell Ruby I told you this but… Oh, what am I saying?" Yang scoffed at the idea before resuming. "Anyways, I got clawed by a cat when I was nine, and it hurt like hell. I lied and told everyone I got into a fight at school because it was super embarrassing. There's still a scar on my nose if you look closely enough."

Careful in manner, Yang inched forward, perhaps to show that she really was telling the truth, or perhaps to prove that she really meant no harm. Either way, it seemed to be working for the moment, as this time the cat stayed motionless, though her eyes continued to watch her in vigilance.

"So, basically, I got mauled by a kitten while trying to help it down from a tree," Yang sighed at the distant memory. "That ungrateful little bastard," she involuntarily added aloud.

She heard a gentle mewling in return. Yang wasn't sure what it was, it could have been a sign of condolence, or even amusement if she wanted to assume there was any meaning.

"Now, here's the thing," Yang gathered up a friendly grin, "I'll let you sleep on my bed. And I won't hurt you if you won't hurt me back, okay? Do we have a deal?"

The cat definitely nodded that time. Yang shook her head, knowing that she was insane to do this, squatting on the carpet as she tried to bargain with an animal. What surprised her more was that it appeared to have worked? Once she reached forward again, the cat flinched for an instant but stayed rooted for her, allowing herself to be scooped up without much protest.

Yang sighed in defeat as she crawled back into bed, settling the kitten down on the right side of her pillow. Her black fur still quivered under contact, but her breathing was beginning to slow and ease.

There was a sheen reflected by the moonlight, and Yang frowned, noticing the same metallic band around the cat's neck. It looked tight and confining, and the blonde dared a chance to reach forward to inspect it. Needless to say, it was the wrong move to make, as the blonde felt an immediate jerk in return.

There was a low hiss of mistrust. Yang managed to hush her down with a few gentle coos, reminding the cat of her promises as she tenderly felt around the collar. At last, she managed to hear a small click, and Yang was able to remove it entirely.

She knew that the cat was passing her an odd look, ears twitching up then back down in confusion. She stared at Yang, then eyed the collar, then back at Yang again, as if not comprehending what had just happened.

"What? You looked a little uncomfortable," she said, tossing the collar onto her bedside table. "Don't worry, you can have it back in the morning."

An amber gaze followed her regardless, almost wary of what would happen if she closed her eyes again. Her head lolled a bit to the side like it was getting too heavy to hold up.

"Relax," Yang breathed, tolerantly and compassionately. "Relax and go back to sleep."

In the end, the cat seemed to resign, finally shutting those tired eyes as she rested her weary head on the linen sheets.

Sleep fell over them, quickly and in peace.

The next day, when Yang awoke, the right side of her bed was abnormally cold.


End file.
